InArt: The Dark Knight - Joker (Heath Ledger) 1:6

[prizzy726]

Shoot, these do look good. I’ve been wanting, and would prefer, a 1/6 statue of him. If the price is right though, I guess I could “settle” for an articulated figure.

[Silas Loki]

Originally Posted by pdenham

Even at 1/6 scale, this sub brand manages to use hair fibers that are more in-scale than JND at 1/3. That's kind of pathetic when you think about it (for JND).

Also more in scale than any HT I've ever seen.

First photo looks like it could be sculpted hair, but the bottom has to be "rooted".

A few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you, but after seeing Catwoman in the "flesh" - I believe there has been a huge improvement on that front.

[generalszabo]

I think we might be pleasantly surprised by the price of some of these. Not for me though as my 1/6 days are over

[Silas Loki]

My guess is that these figures will be priced about the same as a 1/4 statue from back in 2017, so anywhere between $500 - $600.

Queen and JND are not getting into 1/6 for health or charity reasons - my guess is that this is too fill the upcoming void that "core" scaled products will leave open. I believe this will ramp up to being their core products with statues being fringe - and statues will be more than double what they cost now, but with super low ES and aimed at rich collectors.

Message, buy what you can now - the sun is setting on how it used to be.

[Iko Iko]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

My guess is that these figures will be priced about the same as a 1/4 statue from back in 2017, so anywhere between $500 - $600.

Queen and JND are not getting into 1/6 for health or charity reasons - my guess is that this is too fill the upcoming void that "core" scaled products will leave open. I believe this will ramp up to being their core products with statues being fringe - and statues will be more than double what they cost now, but with super low ES and aimed at rich collectors.

Message, buy what you can now - the sun is setting on how it used to be.

Agree. As statues (and figures) get more detailed and lifelike, the cost of these items is going to reflect that. In a way, I don't mind the price hikes if the quality is there (especially if you look at what we were getting from SSC 10 years ago). Some of the sculpts and paint on those old movie pieces (at least compared to now) look really off.

[Agent23]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

My guess is that these figures will be priced about the same as a 1/4 statue from back in 2017, so anywhere between $500 - $600.

Queen and JND are not getting into 1/6 for health or charity reasons - my guess is that this is too fill the upcoming void that "core" scaled products will leave open. I believe this will ramp up to being their core products with statues being fringe - and statues will be more than double what they cost now, but with super low ES and aimed at rich collectors.

Message, buy what you can now - the sun is setting on how it used to be.

I think you’re right. Pretty soon these 1/6 figures will be costing $400-$600 a piece.

I bought the original Scarface p.f. Back in the day for $115 shipped from fireside collectibles.

Those days are long gone.

I have two pre-orders left and I think I’m done. I’m happy with what I have and I don’t have any space left, and I’m not one of those guys that can leave pieces boxed up.

It’s been fun, but like you said, the sun it setting.

[generalszabo]

Prices always go up, there will pieces at the price point you're more comfortable with, I.e. hot toys. I don't think queen will be as pricey as jnd but if the quality isn't there, people won't buy ultimately so you do get what you pay for

[pdenham]

I was on Level52s site earlier, trying to dig up some specs on one of their earlier releases and they had a note about their situation as of a few months back.

I haven't kept up with them since getting my Frazetta piece back in 2018, so I wasn't aware of their issues outside of what everyone else is dealing with. Sounds like, as a small company, with a limited slate of projects all with small ES's, they are really getting squeezed out.

Even now, our factory partners have lost more than half of their polystone technicians due to quarantine fatigue, on top of mandated rolling blackouts to conserve mainland coal stores through winter which restricts their operation to 2-3 days a week. Polystone material costs from 2020 to now have more than doubled. Shipping product from Shenzhen to the US has more than tripled in cost since the majority of our preorders went live and takes twice as long to transit.

We all knew about the shipping issues, and I knew production costs had gone up- but I had no idea that polystone material costs had more than doubled- or that factory shifts had been impacted to that degree, throttling production schedules.

Every one that has been collecting for more than a few years now has seen the writing on the wall. Prices were rising faster than the rate of inflation pre-pandemic. I don't think we've seen anything yet.

So yes, for a lot of us, the sun is definitely setting. Time to enjoy what you have.

[Silas Loki]

Originally Posted by pdenham

I was on Level52s site earlier, trying to dig up some specs on one of their earlier releases and they had a note about their situation as of a few months back.

I haven't kept up with them since getting my Frazetta piece back in 2018, so I wasn't aware of their issues outside of what everyone else is dealing with. Sounds like, as a small company, with a limited slate of projects all with small ES's, they are really getting squeezed out.



We all knew about the shipping issues, and I knew production costs had gone up- but I had no idea that polystone material costs had more than doubled- or that factory shifts had been impacted to that degree, throttling production schedules.

Every one that has been collecting for more than a few years now has seen the writing on the wall.

And yes, for a lot of us, the sun is setting.

Prices were rising faster than the rate of inflation pre-pandemic. I don't think we've seen anything yet.

Whether this is "true" or not, it does correlate to this sudden change in direction for Queen and JND. To jump from statues to action figures is pretty illogical, when you think about it.

I mean, with modern digital sculpting, generally, sizing up or down is relatively easy. However, the design characteristics of an action figure are completely different. So, for a statue company to suddenly move into action figures is a really big deal - it's like Ford suddenly making Submarines or Ships....

My guess is that, with current global events, statues are simply not viable anymore - how many new releases are we even seeing from Sideshow, who also seem to be getting out of the game? Prime1 seem to be operating like business as usual, but at the rate those guys ACTUALLY deliver product, and their habit for cancellations, it's difficult to trust / use P1 as an indicator of what's happening.

From materials to package size, 1/6 action figures just make a lot of sense. I'll be sad to see statues (as we know them) disappear altogether, but as others have said, the writing is on the wall.

From here on out it's going to be cheap resin and PVC me thinks. Although maybe marble and stone will make a come back
Imagine the shipping costs on that.

[BlackestNight]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

Whether this is "true" or not, it does correlate to this sudden change in direction for Queen and JND. To jump from statues to action figures is pretty illogical, when you think about it.

I mean, with modern digital sculpting, generally, sizing up or down is relatively easy. However, the design characteristics of an action figure are completely different. So, for a statue company to suddenly move into action figures is a really big deal - it's like Ford suddenly making Submarines or Ships....

My guess is that, with current global events, statues are simply not viable anymore - how many new releases are we even seeing from Sideshow, who also seem to be getting out of the game? Prime1 seem to be operating like business as usual, but at the rate those guys ACTUALLY deliver product, and their habit for cancellations, it's difficult to trust / use P1 as an indicator of what's happening.

From materials to package size, 1/6 action figures just make a lot of sense. I'll be sad to see statues (as we know them) disappear altogether, but as others have said, the writing is on the wall.

From here on out it's going to be cheap resin and PVC me thinks. Although maybe marble and stone will make a come back
Imagine the shipping costs on that.

I don't think statues will not be made in the future. I just think they will just cost more.

The jump from statues to figures is completely logical. Not sure if you sell anything but price point is everything. You would not believe how many more sales is possible at a $500 or lower price point than a $1000 price point. If you have great IP and the manufacturing capabilities there's no question a lower price point will make more money.

Unless these figures have super limited ES.

If like Hot Toys, there is no ES, you can capitalize on a single design far more with a figure than a statue with a set ES.